William Brereton

William Brereton (1487-17 May 1536) was a Groom of the Privy Chamber to  King Henry VIII. In 1536, he was tried and executed for treason and adultery with Anne Boleyn.

Biography
William Brereton was born in Cheshire, England in 1487, the son of a knight of the body of King Henry VII of England. By 1521, William was a groom of King Henry VIII's chamber, and from 1524, Groom of the Privy Chamber. William was rewarded with lands on the border with Wales, but Brereton was a devout Catholic, and he was secretly hired by Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys to assassinate Anne Boleyn to prevent Henry from breaking from the Catholic Church. In 1536, he was accused of adultery with Queen Anne, and he decided to sacrifice his life in order to ensure that the queen was also charged with high treason. He pled guilty to Thomas Cromwell, and Brereton, Anne, and several of her other accused lovers were executed.